Overview

Analyzing the importance of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness in Nietzsche’s thought, this volume addresses an under-examined topic in the secondary literature. By exploring disparate aspects of these interrelated emotions it provides new insights into his key ideas. The contributors—among them philosophers and political scientists—illustrate the significance of these feelings to reveal political ramifications of their affirmative potential and their broader role in Nietzsche’s philosophical aims. These include how the joyful disposition Nietzsche commends informs his free spirit's self-overcoming, attempts to revalue all values, and prospects of ultimately transfiguring humanity. Among other topics, scholars assess the Übermensch and shared joy, learning to laugh at oneself, Schopenhauer’s jokes, Pascal’s cheerfulness, and the Dada movement’s subversively playful aesthetic. By contemplating Nietzsche’s emphasis on joy and laughter, the volume reveals a thinker who, far from being a caricature of hopeless nihilism, is in fact the hitherto unrecognised champion of an alternative liberatory politics.

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9781350225275

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Reviews

We could all use a good laugh in these times of global pandemic and political fragility. This sparkling set of essays reveals Nietzsche to be a witty practitioner and analyst of comic art who opens up possibilities for a 'joyful science' of public life and politics. --Gary Shapiro, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Richmond, USA This fine collection explores Nietzsche's idea of life affirmation, not in abstract terms, but with concrete dispositions of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness, which are also applied to political life broadly construed. Pursuit of this under-examined element of Nietzsche's philosophy is a significant contribution to the literature. Highly recommended. --Lawrence J. Hatab, Louis I. Jaffe Professor of Philosophy, Old Dominion University, USA

We could all use a good laugh in these times of global pandemic and political fragility. This sparkling set of essays reveals Nietzsche to be a witty practitioner and analyst of comic art who opens up possibilities for a 'joyful science' of public life and politics. * Gary Shapiro, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Richmond, USA * This fine collection explores Nietzsche’s idea of life affirmation, not in abstract terms, but with concrete dispositions of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness, which are also applied to political life broadly construed. Pursuit of this under-examined element of Nietzsche’s philosophy is a significant contribution to the literature. Highly recommended. * Lawrence J. Hatab, Louis I. Jaffe Professor of Philosophy, Old Dominion University, USA *

Author Information

Paul E. Kirkland is Associate Professor of Political Science at Carthage College, USA. Michael J. McNeal is an independent scholar who teaches at various universities in Denver, USA.

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